Home to a growing number of hospitals, universities and leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, the state of Massachusetts has built what some experts describe as the largest medical technology hub in the United States.

In 2020, venture capital investment in Massachusetts-based biopharma companies reached $5.8 billion, surpassing the previous record of $4.8 billion in 2018, according to The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio), an industry trade group representing more than 1,400 members in the life sciences sector.

In addition, 21 biopharma companies in the state went public in 2020, a 110 percent increase from 2019, totaling $3.9 billion raised by initial public offerings (IPO). These companies accounted for 32 percent of all U.S.-based biopharma IPOs by volume last year.

By providing services and support for the top life sciences cluster in the world, MassBio—based in Cambridge—has helped pave the way for the state’s broadening medical sector since its founding in 1985.

This can partially be credited to the organization’s purchasing consortium, known as MassBio Edge, which aggregates the purchasing power of members to offer pre-vetted competitive discounts, preferred terms and benefits, and customer service on products and services.

“Under MassBio Edge, we leverage the buying power of our member companies, and we negotiate agreements with vendors on behalf of our member organizations that they’re able to take advantage of,” says Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, president and COO for MassBio. “So, essentially the smallest biotech, maybe five to 10 people, could get the contract terms, pricing and conditions that a 30,000-person pharma company would get based on the full buying power.”

COMPREHENSIVE SERVICES

A major incentive for biotech firms under MassBio Edge has been the program’s partnership with Boston-based Veolia North America.

As a preferred partner for the savings and reward program, Veolia acts as an all-inclusive resource for transportation, disposal, training and regulatory guidance related to all types of hazardous, nonhazardous and regulated medical waste as well as low-level radioactive materials. The company also provides comprehensive recycling and waste-to-energy programs.

“We’ve been a partner with Veolia since 1996. Historically, that [partnership] had been focused on the chemical waste side of the business, but we expanded the agreement to include the regulated medical waste business [in 2020],” says O’Connell. “Obviously, that’s of huge importance to our membership being in the life sciences [sector], and Veolia has shown that they are a strong partner for us over the past 20 years. Ultimately, what the [expanded partnership] means for our members is that we have a one-stop-shop provider with Veolia to handle both chemical waste and regulated medical waste.”

With the life sciences industry in Massachusetts reaching record growth over the past decade as emphasis is put on gene therapy and biologics, O’Connell says the need for a full-service waste provider in the area has become even more important.

According to MassBio, biopharma firms in the state expect to add 10 to 20 million square feet of lab space over the next five years, creating upwards of 20,000 to 40,000 new jobs in the sector.

“Our membership is made up of companies of all shapes and sizes in this industry. It’s important for us to have a partner that can service small and emerging companies, but also scale up with them as they move through their lifecycle and become a large biotech company.” – Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, president and COO, MassBio

As the sole waste management service provider for all MassBio members, Veolia provides a complete range of services for life sciences, biotechnology, university, hospital, industrial and municipal customers through the company’s network of more than 45 sales, services, treatment and disposal facilities in the U.S.

“The people at MassBio have clarity about the needs of their members and can effectively communicate [to] us about what their needs are, and our group has the technical expertise to make sure that we’re satisfying those needs,” says Bob Cappadona, executive vice president and COO for Veolia’s Environmental Solutions and Services division. “There’s a level of trust between the two groups to ensure that we’re delivering the services to the customers in a way that we can stand proud of.

“I think that relationship has worked well, whether it’s [dealing with] medical waste, hazardous waste, or frankly, [during] COVID, because we are committed to making sure that we can provide the services that we do in a way that is safe and appropriate for all involved. And, again, it all starts with communication between MassBio and Veolia.”

WORKING TOGETHER

Servicing a variety of MassBio members such as Harvard University, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Inc. and Boston Children’s Hospital, Cappadona says finding a medical waste disposal solution for a company usually starts with a collaborative discussion with both MassBio and the member company.

“The development of our services is always very collaborative with what our customers need,” he says. “The first thing [we do] is take a look around at their environment. If you think about it, the individual who works in a refinery or chemical plant versus an individual who’s at a biotech or pharmaceutical company is going to have a very different environment. So, we’ve got to make sure that we’re very respectful of the surroundings that we’re operating in.”

Cappadona adds that the process also includes extensive training to ensure the safety of waste personnel, as well as employees working in the lab environment.

“The No. 1 thing is just making sure that we have a good, comprehensive understanding of the services we’re going to provide, where we’re going to provide them and making sure that we’re communicating to the customer how we’re going to do that to ensure safety and compliance,” he says.

Working closely with the major companies participating in developing COVID-19 vaccine research, Cappadonna says the company has taken a lot of pride in adapting its services to fit its customers’ needs.

“Depending upon the type of location and whether it’s a small research location or a large manufacturing facility, we’ve adapted to the needs of those companies both from a waste management standpoint, as well as a business environment standpoint,” he says. “In some cases, we’ve done decontamination activities, and in certain facilities, we’ve changed the frequency and the services we provide. But ultimately, we’ve ensured that our teammates and representatives are prepared in whatever they need to do in order to enter and operate those customer locations.”

In order to better handle the influx of medical waste throughout Massachusetts, Veolia has also partnered with MassBio and another third party for the opening of a new medical waste treatment facility in Boston.

According to O’Connell, the introduction of this facility was a major selling point for MassBio’s expanded partnership with Veolia given its close proximity to members and the environmental benefits it provides.

“The facility aims to provide a local option for treatment here in Boston and will reduce materials and resources being put on the road while also minimizing any risk of transport,” says Cappadonna. “It is newly permitted and currently in the ramp-up stage. We’re not at full capacity at this point, but it will be ramping up to full capacity soon.”

The author is the assistant editor of Waste Today and can be reached at hrischar@gie.net.

When drivers spend many hours behind the wheel, it can be tempting to break up the monotony with multitasking. Unfortunately, a phone call, text message or even a sip of coffee can take a driver’s attention away from the road. When a driver is operating a vehicle weighing 80,000 pounds, the consequences can be disastrous. Although laws are in place to prevent truckers from distracted driving, distractions remain major causes of commercial motor vehicle accidents that result in serious or fatal injuries.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines distracted driving as a specific type of inattention that occurs when drivers divert their attention away from driving to focus on another activity. Distracted driving is divided into three categories:

• Visual distractions are tasks that require the driver to look away from the road to visually obtain information.
• Manual distractions are tasks that require the driver to remove a hand from the steering wheel to manipulate a device.
• With cognitive distractions, the mental workload associated with a task involves thinking about something other than the driving task.

It is not hard to identify distracted drivers by how they are driving. Some signs can be as obvious as a driver failing to brake at a stop sign, a vehicle drifting over the centerline, a driver making excessively wide turns or driving at speeds significantly slower or faster than the posted speed limit.

Truck drivers might be distracted by a variety of factors:

• Talking on a cellphone. Federal law expressly forbids commercial drivers from holding, dialing or even reaching for a mobile phone while driving. While commercial truck drivers are allowed to talk on mobile phones using hands-free devices, they are not allowed to make calls or engage in the operation of hands-free phones if doing so requires pressing more than a single button.
• Texting. Federal, state and local laws prohibit reading and sending text messages for all drivers, including commercial truckers. In addition, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has instituted a law forbidding interstate truck and bus drivers from texting or using hand-held phones during vehicle operation. A driver who violates these rules can face fines or the loss of his or her commercial driver’s license, while the commercial trucking company can be subject to civil penalties of up to $11,000 if it permitted or required the driver to text or use a hand-held phone while driving.
• Online activities. In many cases, online activities, such as surfing the web, playing games, watching videos, checking email and posting on social media are covered under the FMCSA texting regulations. The law can apply to phones, tablets, laptops and any other electronic devices.
• Eating meals. Drivers under pressure to meet deadlines might skip required rest and meal breaks, opting to drive while eating full meals and drinking beverages. While this may save time, it also requires at least one hand to leave the steering wheel and some of the driver’s attention to leave the road.
• Using in-cab technology. Radios, dispatch devices and other technology often are installed in the cab to allow a truck driver to remain in contact with his or her employer. Any technology used while driving should follow the same regulations as other electronic devices: It should not require more than a single press of a button to operate.
• Navigation. Internal GPS and electronic navigation systems are invaluable to truck drivers. However, these devices also have the potential to pull a driver’s focus from the road. Drivers can reduce crash risks by programming locations into their devices before starting their routes.

In other words, anything other than driving is considered a distraction.

Distracted driving initiative

Currently, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does not have a standard that addresses distracted driving. However, OSHA does have a distracted driving initiative in partnership with the Department of Transportation.

OSHA’s message to companies that have employees who drive as part of their jobs is succinct: It is the responsibility of employers to have a clear and enforced ban on texting while driving. OSHA’s General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act, requires “employers to provide their employees with a place of employment that is free from recognizable hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious harm to employees.” This is regardless of whether the workplace is in a commercial motor vehicle or a traditional brick-and-mortar facility.

OSHA will investigate complaints where it is alleged that an employer requires texting while driving. The agency will issue citations and penalties if the allegations are found to be true.

Company policy

Companies should have a policy that prohibits the use of cellphones while driving. However, the policy must be communicated to the affected employees, compliance must be monitored and violations must be enforced. The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) offers a free cellphone policy template to help develop company policy.

Not having a policy opens your organization to potential liability. If one of your employees is involved in a fatal accident while on company business and is found to be distracted because he or she was using a cellphone at the time of the accident, especially if your organization does not have an established cellphone policy, the consequences are serious.

Prevention strategies

Distracted driving is a complicated issue and must be approached through multiple channels. Enacting laws banning the use of cellphones and increasing the penalties for violators will deter some, but not all, drivers. Continued driver education and awareness are vital tools in changing drivers’ behaviors.

Consider the following advice to minimize distractions while driving:

• Adjust mirrors, temperature controls and the entertainment console when first entering the vehicle.
• Input the destination into the GPS before embarking on a trip.
• Stow cellphones in the trunk or glove compartment.
• Turn off cellphones and have a programmed message informing the caller that you are driving and will call back after you reach your destination.
• If a cellphone must be used, pull off the road to a safe area to use it.
• If you stop for food, eat it while your vehicle is stopped.
• Do not perform personal grooming while driving.
• Familiarize yourself with driving directions and maps before leaving.
• Purchase and install GPS mounts that allow drivers to keep their heads up.

These are just a few safety recommendations. But, at the end of the day, the most important thing to remember is that when you are distracted, who is driving?

This article originally appeared in the July Issue of Recycling Today. Commodor Hall is the senior director of safety at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Washington. Contact him by email at chall@isri.org.

Since the company’s founding in 1957, Liberty Ashes Inc.—one of the oldest waste haulers in New York City—has worked to establish itself as a leader in the waste removal and recycling industry.

Taken over by brothers Michael and Stephen Bellino shortly after their father’s passing in 1969, Liberty Ashes started with only three trucks and 200 customers in Queens. Today, the company boasts 20 trucks and close to 4,000 commercial customers across Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan.

“My brother and I took over the business basically when we were just getting out of high school,” says Michael Bellino, co-owner of Liberty Ashes. “We’ve been running the business ever since and have always been looking to find better ways to service our customers.”

With environmental concerns and innovation in mind, Bellino says the company’s most recent venture has revolved around integrating electric vehicles into the company’s current fleet.

In June, Liberty Ashes announced the purchase of two battery-powered, electric refuse trucks from Crane Carrier Company (CCC), an Ohio-based business unit of Battle Motors in Los Angeles. According to a press release, the company will be using one Battle One Severe Duty Refuse (formerly LET) model and a Battle One Crew Cab (formerly LET2) truck to serve customers in four New York boroughs and two counties on Long Island.

INCREASED DEMAND

The investment comes amidst an increased demand for electric refuse vehicles in New York City following a February 2020 executive order by NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio mandating a fully electric municipal fleet by 2040.

The ambitious goal is an expansion of de Blasio’s previous December 2015 NYC Clean Fleet sustainability plan to create the largest electric vehicle fleet of any American city and reduce New York’s municipal vehicle emissions by half by 2025 and by 80 percent by 2035.

“[When] we started looking into [electric refuse trucks], we were looking for availability, and we really couldn’t find any,” says Bellino. “Crane Carrier was the first [company] that came to us with an actual delivery date that wasn’t two years in the future.”

With over 180 dealers located across North America, Battle Motors CEO Michael Patterson says the company has been busy keeping up with an influx of orders from haulers throughout the U.S.

“We’re delivering 120 electric refuse trucks over the next three months. Then we’re going to be delivering 200 electric trucks per month in 2022,” he says. “Pretty much every major city is buying one or two electric trucks; we’ve already sold out everything we could make in 2021.”

In total, Battle Motors has plans to electrify over 5,000 private refuse trucks in New York City over the coming years.

To keep up with the increase in production, Patterson says the company is nearly tripling the size of its production facility in New Philadelphia, Ohio, from 125,000 square feet to 350,000 square feet. Battle Motors also plans to construct another facility on the West Coast, he adds.

SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES

Liberty Ashes, which anticipates the delivery of its Battle One models in September, will be the first private sanitation and recycling company to use electric refuse trucks in the New York area.

After purchasing several CNG trucks from Crane Carrier’s New York-based dealer Milea Truck over the past decade, Bellino says the longstanding relationship between the companies helped seal the deal on their most recent investment.

“We’ve bought four or five vehicles [through] Milea,” he says. “We love the low-entry vehicle design; we love the visibility, and we love the safety features that [Crane Carrier] trucks offer. Obviously, safety is a big part of our decision-making.”

Featuring an 18-inch step-in height, a large flat glass windshield, a steel fabricated severe-service cab shell and a remote-mounted 1,814-square-inch radiator, Battle Motors says the Battle One models include several features to maximize safety, increase space and enhance maneuverability.

For Bellino, however, the biggest safety advantage has been the trucks’ regenerative braking system.

“The regenerative braking system kind of recharges the battery system from the inertia of the vehicle moving, so it actually slows the vehicle down as soon as you take your foot off [the pedal],” he says. “It uses the kinetic energy [from] the motion of the vehicle to actually fuel that rotary motion and it just slows down naturally. So, the vehicle will come to a natural stop as opposed to any other vehicle or car that will just continue to cruise.”

In addition to safety, the electric models have a modular battery pack design that Patterson says can offer significant cost savings.

“[With the modular battery pack], we only deliver the amount of energy that you need,” he says. “You don’t want to sell someone a battery pack that’s 396 kilowatt hours when you only need 200 kilowatt hours because you’re just adding expense. So, there’s no reason that the customer should pay for a battery they don’t need.”

By utilizing an electric motor from Wilsonville, Oregon-based Cascadia Motion, Patterson adds that the Battle One series offers lower maintenance costs, reduced noise and zero carbon emissions. The trucks also include a comprehensive software suite, which provides truck parts inventory, service history and diagnostics for users.

“Refuse fleets are perfect to go to EV because they typically have a short range. Almost 90 percent of all refuse trucks go less than 150 miles a day because they run the same routes, so most fleets return to the garage at nearly the same time every day where they can be plugged in for 12 hours before they get on the road again.” - Mike Peterson, CEO, Battle Motors

FUTURE PLANS

According to a recent study conducted by Battle Motors, the average electric vehicle user in the refuse industry will save roughly $12,400 a year in diesel fuel costs per truck. When considering the potential cost savings as well as the nature of the refuse hauling industry, Patterson says waste trucks are ideal for the transition to electric.

“Refuse fleets are perfect to go to EV because they typically have a short range,” he says. “Almost 90 percent of all refuse trucks go less than 150 miles a day because they run the same routes, so most fleets return to the garage at nearly the same time every day where they can be plugged in for 12 hours before they get on the road again.”

In pursuit of a fully electric fleet, Liberty Ashes has recognized this opportunity and is currently pursuing plans to retrofit the company’s existing diesel trucks to electric.

“We’re going to get a conversion company that we’re doing a joint venture with in New York to partner with us to actually do existing conversions, in addition to purchasing new vehicles from Crane Carrier,” says Bellino. “This will be the biggest change in our fleet that we’re going to undertake, and we’re pretty excited about this—electric is the future.”

The company is also in the process of building a waste conversion facility in Queens that will have the capacity to convert municipal solid waste into natural gas fuel for its current CNG vehicles.

“The [waste conversion facility] has been a long, tedious research project for probably half my life,” Bellino says. “The finished system will be operating in New York very shortly. Our facility will be [processing] approximately 600 tons a day, and the resulting gas will go directly into the National Grid [utility] pipeline that’s in the street.”

The author is the assistant editor of Waste Today and can be reached at hrischar@gie.net.

ACV Enviro, Avenel, New Jersey, is an environmental, industrial and waste management company providing services ranging from environmental emergency response to hazardous waste management for hundreds of customers across the eastern United States.

The company, which has been in business since 1976, boasts more than 600 vehicles, 500 drivers and more than 1,000 unpowered assets.

While ACV Enviro’s customers have come to count on the company for its reliable waste management offerings, accountability on the road is just as important.

According to ACV Enviro Director of Transportation Compliance Kellie Case, its customers place a lot of weight on safety when selecting service providers.

“In our industry, customers are less focused on low prices and care more about our safety metrics. This means that the safer we are, the more enticing we are during the bidding process,” Case says.

At ACV Enviro, the primary use of vehicles is for transporting equipment and materials to and from customer sites. And since many of the company’s job sites are in large metro areas, such as New York City and Washington D.C., drivers spend most of their time navigating congested roads.

To help enhance the safety of its drivers, ACV Enviro’s management committed to outfitting its vehicles with new fleet management technology. After vetting various providers, they chose Samsara’s dash cam monitoring solution in 2020.

Before Samsara, ACV Enviro did not have a dash cam solution that provided visibility into driver safety and culture. This made it difficult to gain quality, unbiased information about how the company’s drivers operate on the road, which, in turn, resulted in the company having to be reactive in managing safety and driver behavior.

“We needed better leading safety indicators, and we wanted a way to share safety data with our customers,” ACV Enviro VP of Environmental, Health & Safety Donna Miller says.

With Samsara dual-facing AI Dash Cams, Miller says ACV Enviro’s back-office staff now has the ability to view driving conditions on the road as well as driver behavior inside the cab in order to benchmark driver safety. Plus, AI features such as real-time incident detection and in-cab coaching alerts help protect drivers and improve unsafe driving behaviors by issuing proactive warnings to operators.

“In-cab alerts are incredibly helpful because our drivers receive coaching before we have to step in,” Case explains.

If an accident does occur, Case says the company has the ability to review footage or distracted driving events within minutes to use in coaching conversations both with the employees directly involved in the incidents and across the entire workforce. 

Since last year’s implementation, Miller says the results have been transformational. ACV Enviro has seen a 60 percent decrease in accident rates and the data continues to get better month over month, she notes.

“The AI is unbelievable, and we’ve seen huge drops in harsh events,” she says. “It gives us more visibility than we could have anticipated.” 

Additionally, with Samsara AI Dash Cams, ACV Enviro now has the safety data it needs to set benchmarks and demonstrate its fleet safety performance to its existing and prospective customers.

Clear communication

To maximize its investment in dash cams, ACV Enviro knew that communication and driver buy-in would be key. However, convincing the company’s seasoned drivers that this fleet technology would be beneficial took a concerted effort from the company.

Case, who managed the company’s roll-out, offered the following advice:

1. Nail down your timeline: Communicate the roll-out timeline in advance and give drivers plenty of notice before beginning installation.
2. Focus on why: Tell the drivers why the company invested in dash cams. Share specific goals or behaviors the company is targeting if you have them.
3. Explain the benefits: Provide details on how dash cams will help keep drivers safe.  
4. Be clear on the use: Reiterate who has access to the footage and what it will be used for (coaching and driver exonerations).  
5. Solidify procedures: Make the disciplinary program very clear so drivers know what to expect if they get caught doing something wrong more than once.

“When it was clear to our drivers that we were using the dash cams to keep everyone safe, there was no argument or pushback,” Case says.

Case also explained to drivers that dash cams would help detect illegal behaviors—such as cellphone usage or seatbelt violations—before law enforcement could cite them. This meant drivers could correct their behavior before it affected their driving record.

“Our drivers are focused on improvement, so I made sure to communicate how dash cams would improve their driving,” Case says. 

One of ACV Enviro’s lab pack supervisors and drivers says that the initial concern from some drivers revolved around feeling like their privacy was being invaded. However, over time, the drivers came to see that the cams were used for their benefit.

“ACV did a great job at communicating to drivers and employees what the system was being used for,” a maintenance technician and driver for ACV Enviro says. “Drivers had a lot of comfort knowing that the system wasn’t about disciplining drivers, but instead, making them safer drivers.”

In fact, this driver notes that the first few times dash cam footage helped exonerate drivers, tensions eased and operators came to appreciate the technology. 

“Samsara dash cams helped exonerate me from an incident in New York City,” the lab pack supervisor says. “I feel more confident when there’s a dash cam in my vehicle [now]. I know I’m a safe driver and dash cams help me prove that.” 

Increasing driver engagement

To increase engagement in the ACV Enviro safety program, Case instituted weekly, monthly and quarterly driver rewards. The program uses Samsara safety scores to recognize the safest drivers by region, as well as across the entire organization. Within the Samsara dashboard, Case can segment drivers using tags so that drivers can compare their performance to their peers.

Each Friday, Case shares the results and announces the top drivers during a company-wide meeting. Winners are also awarded prizes such as T-shirts, hats and other items to help recognize their commitment to safety.

Case says that shortly after rolling out this driver safety program, engagement among drivers soared as workers became competitive in monitoring their own safety scores and trying to outdo their peers.

Since tracking driver safety scores, ACV Enviro has noticed a week over week improvement across every region.

“Safety scores continue to go up. The more the drivers understand what the system is looking for, the more they improve their behaviors,” says Case.

In addition, accident rates continue to decline, and Case has noticed that drivers pay more attention to how they’re driving, in part, to outperform their peers. 

“I use the driver app to check the safety score leaderboards every day—sometimes every hour,” says Miguel Mercado, regional dispatch specialist and occasional driver for ACV Enviro. “It’s a great system for our drivers.” 

Utilizing tracking data

Beyond the dash cams, ACV Enviro uses Samsara technology to keep inventory of more than 1,000 assets ranging in cost from $3,000 to more than $500,000. Their most common assets are roll-off containers specialized for their hazardous waste work, but they also own assets such as generators, tankers, light towers and even boats.

Before Samsara, ACV Enviro tracked its asset inventory on paper and in spreadsheets, which made the process challenging and labor-intensive.

Due to complications with manually tracking its assets, ACV Enviro had to occasionally supplement resources and rent from third-party companies, which added significant cost to the business. However, Samara’s asset-tracking solutions help eliminate these issues.

“Logistics become much more efficient when you can track utilization and asset locations so easily across all of our service centers,” says Case.

Miller adds, “Samsara makes it easy to inventory assets when we have projects that span multiple months and large geographic areas.”

In addition to helping understand where its assets are, ACV Enviro wanted a system that went beyond just location tracking. They wanted to know if they were getting the maximum value out of their equipment.

To accomplish this, ACV Enviro installed Samsara asset trackers known as AG46s on all of its unpowered assets.

“Now, we not only know where our assets are, but we know how long they’ve been sitting in one location, and logistically, we can move these assets throughout our organization with great efficiency,” Miller says.  

Plus, by using Samsara time-on-site reports and geofences, Case says his team is able to show customers exactly how long equipment was at their job site. This has helped the company improve its billing and increase its revenues. 

Additionally, with Samsara utilization reports, ACV Enviro can evaluate its inventory and make better budget planning decisions for future years.

“We want to ensure that our assets are working enough to justify their costs,” Case says. 

As an added benefit, Case anticipates ACV Enviro’s insurance premiums could go down now that the company has Samsara’s theft-prevention solution in place that can both reduce asset theft and track down assets to avoid replacement costs.

While ACV Enviro’s clients choose them because of their track record of quality service, with Samsara, they are now able to quantify improvements related to safety while better managing assets. This has allowed the company to focus on what they do best—managing waste and serving their customers’ needs.

The author is the editor of Waste Today magazine and can be reached at aredling@gie.net.